1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to deck systems, and more particularly, to a deck system having unique columns, rails and planks that provide an easy to install, weatherable and attractive deck.
2. Description of the Related Art
Deck systems and railings are well known in the art. However, existing deck systems and railings have drawbacks which can make the already labor-intensive job of deck installation time-consuming and expensive. For example, the balusters or pickets used in most existing systems require tools at the work site for installation. Thus, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,340,087 to Turner, 4,146,212 to Lermer, 3,918,686 to Knott et al., 3,596,880 to Greenberg and 3,506,243 to Seiler all disclose railing systems requiring screws, pins or rods to hold the balusters or pickets in place. Denmark Patent No. 92088 discloses a similar type of railing system. Use of such fasteners adds expense to a project, requires use of tools by the installer to fasten the balusters in place and is time consuming.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,505 to Murdock uses a pair of wedges to lock a baluster into place within a top and bottom rail. However, once again, a tool is required on site to drive the wedges to the proper location through a hole in the rail. The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,799 to Lauzier takes a different approach to solving this problem. Rather than requiring that the installer use a tool and fasteners to fasten the balusters into place, Lauzier discloses doing more pre-installation work on the balusters themselves. In particular, Lauzier teaches machining the otherwise uniformly shaped balusters to create four notches or grooves in each baluster to be used in the installation of the balusters. These notched balusters then are inserted into the rails on site without the use of an additional tool. Because this approach requires specially designed balusters which themselves have now become labor intensive, this is a less than optimal solution to the problem.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a railing system wherein easy-to-manufacture (e.g., uniform throughout their length) balusters are inserted into the top and bottom rails without requiring that the installer have additional tools for the installation. Ideally, the installation would be relatively quick and easy.
In addition, none of the aforementioned systems are shown to be used in the railing for a deck and to house electrical wiring to provide power to electrical components housed, e.g., in the columns for the railing system.
Problems also exist with the deck planks used to form the surfaces of decks. For example, when deck planks are made of wood or a wood fiber composite, such as Strandex.RTM. wood fiber composite available from Strandex Corporation of Madison, Wisconsin (a compound of wood fiber, polyethylene, thermoset resins and other minor additives--see U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,472, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference), these planks can expand in their widths over time due to moisture absorption. Thus, for example, where tongue-in-groove type planks are used, neighboring planks may expand into one another. The expansion can be large enough to cause damage or even ruin a deck. This is an expensive problem. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a deck system that uses deck planks that reduce or eliminate this problem.